Advanced Reactors

This week, the Department of Energy has finalized two new other transaction agreements (OTAs) with participating companies in its Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to get one or two fast-tracked reactors on line by July 4 of this year. Those companies are Terrestrial Energy and Oklo.

New York City–based Nano Nuclear Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, on behalf of the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, to collaborate on the development, construction, and operation of the company’s Kronos MMR (micro modular reactor) as an on-campus research reactor. The new MOU represents the latest aspect of Nano Nuclear’s partnership on the Kronos MMR project with the university, which includes state funding for a manufacturing and research center, to be located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.

Following up on an October announcement on plans to invest more heavily in nuclear power, Duke Energy closed out 2025 by submitting an early site permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This ESP application is for a site near the Belews Creek Steam Station, a coal and natural gas plant in Stokes County, N.C., where Duke has been pursuing a new nuclear project for two years.

Progress in the Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program continues as Natura Resources has executed an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the DOE for the company’s Molten Salt Research Reactor being pursued in close collaboration with Abilene Christian University (ACU) in Texas. Reactor projects participating in the program would progress through DOE authorization and oversight rather than Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing.

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor has completed the second step of the generic design assessment (GDA) process in the United Kingdom. In this step, the U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency, and Natural Resources Wales did not identify “any fundamental safety, security safeguard or environmental protection shortfalls with the design of the BWRX-300.” Step 1 was completed in December 2024.

With about seven months left in the race to bring DOE-authorized test reactors on line by July 4, 2026, via the Reactor Pilot Program, Deep Fission has announced that it will break ground on its associated project on December 9 in Parsons, Kansas. It’s one of many companies in the program that has made significant headway in recent months.

Idaho National Laboratory has selected five teams for its Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) Project to develop a sodium-potassium–cooled microreactor designed to test microreactor applications, create regulatory processes, and explore electrical and nonelectrical uses.

Advanced nuclear energy start-up Antares has announced the close of a $96 million Series B funding round, led by Shine Capital with participation from Alt Capital, Caffeinated, FiftyThree Stations, Industrious, and other investors. The round raised $71 million in new equity capital and $25 million in debt for equipment, factory build-out, and uranium procurement.

The Department of Energy has selected the Tennessee Valley Authority and Holtec Government Services to support the early deployments of light water small modular reactors in the United States. The companies will each receive as much as $400 million in federal cost-shared funding to advance their initial SMR projects in Tennessee and Michigan, respectively, including follow-on projects and associated supply chains.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently announced that it has completed its final safety evaluation (SE) for the construction permit application for Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 in Kemmerer, Wyo. The application was submitted by TerraPower on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary, US SFR Owner (USO).

The Department of Energy recently announced that General Atomics has successfully completed the conceptual design of its new helium gas–cooled fast modular reactor (FMR). This milestone moves the company one step closer to a target demonstration in the 2030s.

Advanced reactor developer X-energy has announced that it has closed an oversubscribed Series D financing round of approximately $700 million. The funding proceeds are expected to be used to help continue the expansion of its supply chain and the commercial pipeline for its Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor and TRISO-X fuel, according the company.

As part of the Janus Program, announced in October, the Department of the Army is seeking potential commercial vendors to build microreactor power plants at nine military installations that are under consideration.

Valar Atomics has announced that its Nova Core achieved zero-power criticality on November 17 at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site.

It has been about three months since the Department of Energy named 10 companies for its new Reactor Pilot Program, which maps out how the DOE would meet the goal announced in May by Executive Order 14301 of having three reactors achieve criticality by July 4, 2026.

Hawthorne, Calif.–based reactor start-up Valar Atomics recently announced that it has raised $130 million in its Series A funding round, led by venture capital groups Snowpoint, Day One, and Dream.

Newcomer reactor start-up First American Nuclear (FANCO) has partnered with the state of Indiana to develop three projects: its company headquarters, new manufacturing facilities, and a nuclear energy park.

Constellation is considering adding 2,000 MW of nuclear energy at Calvert Cliffs, located on Chesapeake Bay near Lusby, Md., which would effectively double the site’s output, according to the company’s near- and long-term project proposals submitted to the Marland Public Service Commission this week.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy have updated a 2019 memorandum of understanding to coordinate on the review of advanced nuclear reactors and advanced reactor fuel technologies.

The European Investment Bank recently announced that it is providing €90 million ($103.8 million) in financing to Finnish nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO). The funding is to be used by TVO to support new upgrades and maintenance at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.